robert shanks of buckie (1798-1884) - biblicalstudies.org.uk

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Robert Shanks of Buckie(1798-1884)

J O H N A . S M I T H

Robert Shanks was a zealous Protestant minister in Buckie, Banff-shire, during the middle of the nineteenth century. Many ministers

in his day had a greater claim to eminence – Macdonald of Ferintosh,Kennedy of Dingwall, M‘Cheyne of Dundee, Archibald Cook of Daviot,William Nixon of Montrose, Hugh Martin, “Rabbi” Duncan, andnumerous others, come to mind – but sadly, most of these men, thoughhonoured still in the Church, are largely forgotten by the world, even intheir own localities. Shanks, however, is still well known in Buckie, partlybecause of a large plaque to him in Cluny Square in the centre of thetown. The purpose of this article is to give an account of his eventful life.

1. Protestant defenderRobert Shanks was the sixth son of John Shanks, a farmer, and ChristineColquhoun. He was born at Blacksyke in the parish of Slamannan,Stirlingshire on 6th November 1798.1 Several families of the nameShanks were resident in the parish at that time. There is no record of hisparents’ burial there so it is possible they moved to Partick when Robertwas young. Shanks is supposed to have inherited a “fortune” whichhelped to pay for his various projects in Buckie.

Shanks entered the University of Glasgow in 1819 but for somereason did not graduate M.A. until 1829. One of his contemporaries

Scottish Reformation Society Historical Journal, 2 (2012), 167-195 ISSN 2045-4570

1 Baptismal Register in Falkirk Library; Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae (8 vols., 2nd edn.,Edinburgh, 1915-50), Vol. 6, pp. 280-1. The Fasti erroneously states that Shanks was bornin Partick. His parents were married on 1st December 1778 and his eldest brother wasborn at Cadder, according to the “Shanks Family Genealogy Forum” on the internet.

was William K. Tweedie, later minister of the Tolbooth Church in Edinburgh, who matriculated in the same year.2 The Professor ofTheology at Glasgow was Dr. Stevenson MacGill who had a formativeinfluence on James Begg: “The very measures which Dr. MacGillcontinually advocated in the social department relating to pauperism,the treatment of prisoners, education and the economical elevation ofthe people, were the measures whose advancing afterwards occupiedmuch of the time and thought of Dr. Begg.”3 Shanks’ subsequent careersuggests that he too was strongly influenced by MacGill in these respects.

Shanks was licensed by the Presbytery of Linlithgow on 23rd April1828. He was described as “a giant of a man, handsome and of strikingproportions”.4 He spent a considerable time on the Continent, as a tutorand travelling companion to a young Highland landowner. While inParis in the winter of 1829, he attended Guizot’s famous lecture courseon the history of civilisation at the Sorbonne.5 Shanks ever afterwards“entertained the highest admiration of Guizot’s character and historicalprelections”. In France Shanks witnessed Romanism’s “debasinginfluence over the lower orders and its still more pernicious influenceover the educated”.6 His experiences in France and acquaintance withFrench literature led to a conviction that popery and infidelity wereclosely connected.7 He also met Lord Roden, a leading Irish politician,who was seeking to advance the interests of Protestantism in France.8

2 W. Innes Addison, Matriculation Albums of University of Glasgow from 1728 to 1858(Glasgow, 1913), pp. 310-1. An elder brother Thomas matriculated in 1802 but nevergraduated, ibid., p. 200.3 T. Smith, Memoirs of James Begg, D.D. (2 vols., Edinburgh, 1885), Vol. 1, p. 141. 4 Banffshire Advertiser, 11th April 1929.5 Francois P. G. Guizot (1787-1874). Born into a Huguenot family, he was the author ofnumerous historical works and also held several prominent Government posts. “Guizotalways remained a stern Protestant of the orthodox type although he supported thetemporal authority of the Pope,” British Encyclopaedia (12 vols., London, 1935), Vol. 5, p. 355.6 Buckie South United Free Church, Book of the Bazaar, December 1926 ([Buckie], 1926); RevJohn MacKay, “Rev Robert Shanks”, Free Church Monthly Record, 1st July 1884.7 See W. A. Duncan, Letter to Rev Mr Shanks of the Reformation Society on the Connexion betweenProtestantism and Infidelity (Aberdeen, 1835). Duncan published two further letters toShanks the same year on “the rule of faith, the sacrifice of the mass, and offering it forthe dead” and on “sin and the means of pardon”. William Augustine Duncan (1811-85)was born at Towie, converted to Romanism as a teenager, studied at Blairs, withdrew andbecame a publisher in Aberdeen, and then emigrated to Australia where he rose toprominence as a writer on religious and political matters (see Australian Dictionary ofBiography, 1966, accessible online).8 Aberdeen Herald, 12th November 1836. Robert Jocelyn, third Earl of Roden (1788-1870),was an Irish peer who was Grand Master of the Orange Order and the leader of the Irish

168 J O H N A . S M I T H

Shanks was later a corresponding member of the Evangelical Society ofLisle. In 1833, he published a translation of Peter du Moulin’s Anatomiede la Messe into English.9

In the 1820s Romanism was resurgent in the United Kingdom,particularly in Ireland. Many Evangelicals were greatly concerned andvarious Protestant Societies were formed, the largest of which was theLondon-based Protestant Reformation Society (founded 1827). RomanCatholic Emancipation in 1829 gave further impetus to the movement.10

In November 1833, Shanks was appointed as Scottish missionary for theProtestant Reformation Society, under the supervision of the GlasgowAuxiliary.11 He maintained that the Papists had gained in influence bycontroversial lectures. For instance, in Aberdeen, lectures on Sabbathevenings had gained many converts, and in the Enzie district on theBanffshire coast, “converts were frequently made in consequence of thePapists being trained in controversy, whilst the Protestants were leftuninformed upon the points in dispute”.12

In the years 1834 and 1835, Shanks travelled around areas ofAberdeenshire and Banffshire with large Roman Catholic populations,giving lectures on the errors of Romanism. Father James Gordon,Tombae, wrote to the local minister, Rev John MacLean, complaining“that hirelings – slanderous and calamitous – nay, seditious andunchristian, under the clothing of a zeal that is false and under the cloakof charity, which is malevolence, circulate lies, misrepresentations and

Tory Peers. He was a noted Evangelical who had “a prominent role in the network ofsocieties which promoted the ‘Second Reformation in Ireland’” and who “took a stronginterest in the conditions of Protestants on the continent”; see entry in Oxford Dictionaryof National Biography.9 Robert Shanks, The Anatomy of the Mass by Peter du Moulin; newly translated from French, towhich is prefixed a Concise History of the Eucharist (Edinburgh, 1833), xii+288pp. The“Concise History of the Eucharist” occupies exactly a hundred pages and gives afavourable impression of Shanks’ education and intellectual powers.10 For background, see J. Smith, “Defending the Reformation in Aberdeen (1829-40)”,The Bulwark, April-June 2011, pp. 15-21.11 J. Wolffe, The Protestant Crusade in Britain 1829-60 (London, 1991), p. 60. The ProtestantReformation Society was usually referred to at that time as “the British ReformationSociety” or simply “the Reformation Society”. For its full name, and the new and evenlonger name that it adopted in 1853, see Wolffe, p. 36. We are using the name by whichit has been popularly known since the 1850s. Unfortunately the records of the Society arenot currently available for consultation.12 Robert Shanks, Some Causes of Protestant Alarm Stated: and the speeches of the Hon. LordMoncreiff, and the Rev Principal Dewar, delivered in the General Assembly, on Popery, dissected in aletter to his Lordship (Edinburgh, 1836), p. 45.

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false charges against innocent and unoffending Catholics”.13 Gordon alsoobjected to the distribution of “calamitous, lying and seditious Tracts”and asked Shanks, “who sent you to roam about, to harangue and ridicule– inveigh and stigmatise – to become a thorn – a spur in the side of theministers of the Established Church of Scotland; a great many of whomcould well dispense with your too officious services in their churches?”14

The priest claimed that prior to the arrival of Shanks, there waspeace and harmony between Roman Catholics and Protestants inGlenlivet. Protestant farmers even sent their horses and men to ploughthe priest’s fields. He further averred that the tracts were “calculated todisturb the peace of society”. Apparently, a local Protestant “denounced,in his zeal, the Pope to be Antichrist, or the scarlet whore, &c. andwas gainsayed by a Catholic of my flock who gave him the lie ofcontradiction. A corn gauge was seized, or attempted to be seized, to runthe Catholic through; and had not effectual aid been given, murdermight have followed.” Furthermore, at Mr George Smith’s roup, at UpperDrumin, a local zealot “blew the flame of religious discord thenwithdrew. Had not Mr Smith intervened, blood, wounds, and even,probably, death, might have ensued between the parties – who providedthemselves with lethal instruments, hoops, bars of iron, bludgeons,&c.”15 Father Donald Carmichael, Tomintoul, complained, “you,mountebank-like, paste up your bills against my religion on the cornersof the streets”.16

In November 1835, at the height of the M‘Ghee and O’Sullivanagitation, Shanks was instructed by the Protestant Reformation Society“on no account to mix up his labours with those of any associationshaving a political aspect or character”.17 In practice, this was not always

13 Robert Shanks, The Glenlivat Controversy: being a genuine copy of the letters of the Rev Messrs.Maclean and Shanks, and Mr Gordon, priest of Tombae: with an exposure of the ignorance anddishonesty in Mr Gordon’s pamphlet: also the letters of Messrs. Carmichael and Maclachlan, priests atTomintoul and Huntley, with remarks thereon (Aberdeen, 1835) 48pp. The quotation is onp. 16. Shanks published the “genuine” correspondence (p. 4) because Gordon hadpublished “mutilated copies, full of distortions and attempted emendations” of the lettershe had sent to Maclean and Shanks, see [J. Gordon], Protestantism versus Catholicism:correspondence betwixt the Rev John McLean and the Rev James Gordon (Aberdeen, 1835). Onereason why Gordon had altered his letters for publication, Shanks suggests, is that he wasconscious “of having sinned mortally against the simple rules of English grammar”.14 Glenlivat Controversy, p. 33.15 ibid., p. 21.16 ibid., p. 42.17 Wolffe, Protestant Crusade, pp. 132-33. For the M‘Ghee and O’Sullivan agitation, seeibid., pp. 88-91.



easy to do, nor was there complete unanimity in the Society on theappropriateness of political involvement. Some argued that politics wasinsignificant compared to the saving of souls from error, while otherscontended that, given the temporal ambitions of Romanism, it wasimpossible to avoid political controversy.18

In November 1836, Shanks organised a public meeting in theSouth Church, Belmont Street, Aberdeen at which Rev Michael Crotty,a converted Roman Catholic priest from Birr, Ireland was to denouncehis former religion. Most of the evangelical ministers of the town werepresent. Shanks and Crotty had already addressed meetings in Glasgow,Inverness, Elgin, and Forres.19 Shanks impressed upon the audience thespiritual danger of Romanism. “Was it befitting, he would ask, for anyprofessing Christian to teach that Popery was but a bugbear and fit onlyto be taught in the nursery to Children? – a system which raises andexalts itself above God! Was it right that such a subject should be turnedinto profane ridicule? Mr Shanks now presented his Bible, and havingturned up the Book of Daniel read from chapter 7 verse 25, asked if thatcharacteristic had not been exemplified in the Church of Rome? He saidthat he was glad that among the middle classes especially there was agrowing sense of the evils of popery; and he could see nothing to preventChristians of every class from uniting in this holy warfare and continuingto accomplish a great redemption, not only in this country, but in Irelandand in all parts of the world. Mr Shanks sat down amid mingled cheersand hisses.” It seems that Crotty was a rather melodramatic speaker whovehemently denounced Daniel O’Connell and frequently strayed intoparty politics. He was also collecting money for a new Protestant churchin Birr. The meeting was frequently interrupted by hecklers and acontroversy arose about Crotty’s credentials, or lack of them.

Eight days later, a second meeting was held – this time in TrinityChapel, Guild Street, a rougher part of town – principally to refutevarious “misstatements” regarding Crotty’s character, which had beengiven extensive coverage in the Aberdeen Herald newspaper. Shanks readout several testimonials of character and also sought to prove that the useof the term “Mass” in Crotty’s protestant liturgy was “unexceptionable”.He emphasised that Mr John Duncan of Glasgow, “highly distinguishedfor his literary attainments” and “a native of, and an honour to, the city

18 Wolffe, Protestant Crusade, p. 133.19 Aberdeen Herald, 12th November 1836.

of Aberdeen”, approved of the sentiments of the liturgy in question.20

Crotty’s own speech was frequently interrupted and he was called “aliar”, “a renegade” and “a blackguard”. In response, he made “a grossand most unwarrantable attack” on the private character of the editor ofthe Herald, James Adam. Adam sprang to his feet, brandishing hiswalking stick and bellowing “It’s a lie, it’s a lie, it’s a lie!”. A near-riotensued, with “contending zealots hauling, pulling and abusing eachother in different quarters of the church”. Shanks himself caused“something like general indignation” when he spoke of Lord Stourton as“a nobleman whose ancestor was engaged in the Gunpowder Plot andwho himself is still plotting against the Protestant religion”. After beinghissed for this statement, he stopped in his speech and called out to thegallery, “I despise those contemptible persons who have no other way ofrepelling a charge than by a low serpentine hissing”. Such was thedisorder in the church that Shanks said he could not pronounce thebenediction. Violent behaviour resumed and several windows weresmashed. The chairman repeatedly called out that the meeting wasdissolved, and having been ignored, sent for the police and townsergeants. Only after Mr Adam had secured a hearing and stated that hewould reply to Crotty’s charges later, did the crowd begin to disperse.21

2. A challenging parish

Buckie is situated in the parish of Rathven on the Banffshire coast. Themodern town grew out of the twin fishing settlements of Easter Buckieand Buckhaven, on opposite sides of the Burn of Buckie and developedby the respective landowners, Gordon of Cluny and Gordon of Letter-fourie. Buckie’s motto, appropriately enough, is Mare Mater. The fishingvillages of Findochty, Portknockie and Portessie are also in the parish.In the post-Reformation period, under the protection of the powerfulGordon family, Romanism regained much ground in Banffshire, andthe county has long been fruitful in vocations to the priesthood. St.Gregory’s Church at Preshome was the headquarters of Romanism inScotland until 1874.22

20 John “Rabbi” Duncan (1796-1870), the eminent Hebrew scholar and professor in NewCollege, was at that time minister of Milton Church, Glasgow. He was born atGilcomston, Aberdeen, see D. Brown, Memoir of John Duncan D.D. (Edinburgh, 1872).21 Aberdeen Herald, 19th November 1836.22 See P. F. Anson, Fishing Boats and Fisherfolk on the East Coast of Scotland (London, 1930),pp. 202-11.


Shanks first visited Buckie in June 1834. He later recalled that hewas warned that the people would stone him if he went there. When hearrived it was obvious that the town was not only a stronghold ofRomanism but also suffered from poverty, illiteracy, and drunkenness. Heheld open air meetings on Baron’s Green, and addressed the people, notonly on the contrast between Romanism and Protestantism, but also ontemperance.23 Shanks challenged Bishop Kyle and his priests to answerhis arguments.24 Donald Carmichael, a Roman Catholic physician(presumably related to his namesake, the priest of Tomintoul), organiseda meeting in response but he could not complete his speech owing todisorder in the crowd. Shanks refused to debate with Carmichael becausehe was not an official representative of the Church of Rome. Carmichael,however, wrote of Shanks: “his conduct was always gentlemanly and politeand the appearance of earnestness with which he always carried on hislectures, make me believe he is sincere. And I cannot entertain towardshim any other sentiments than those of friendship and respect.”25

By the 1830s, Buckie’s population numbered around 2,000.Protestant chapels of ease already existed at Enzie and Findochty andthe Presbytery had discussed erecting another at Buckie. Shanks’lectures revived the proposal but the proprietor refused a site. Howeverthe parish schoolmaster, Rev William Robertson, and Shanks, in thename of the Reformation Society, bought two feus, combined them toprovide a site, formed a building committee and issued contracts.26

Although the Duke of Gordon contributed £50, no doubt at the behestof his godly Duchess, most of the cost of £800 was met by subscriptionsraised in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, and other placesby the Protestant Reformation Society, hence the “English” inscriptionon the tower: “Trecenary of the Reformation, 1835”.27 The chapel was

23 Banffshire Journal, 13th May 1851.24 Kyle, the Vicar Apostolic of the Northern District, had a number of young priestsgathered around him at Preshome to serve the various Roman Catholic missions in theGordon country, see D. O. Blundell, Ancient Catholic Homes of Scotland (London, 1907), p. 38.25 D. Carmichael, A Lecture intended to have been delivered in the Methodist Chapel, Buckie, inanswer to the lectures of Rev Robert Shanks (Elgin, 1834), p. 14.26 Robertson was born at Migvie, Aberdeenshire in 1804. He was Free Church ministerof Aboyne 1844-70; see W. Ewing, Annals of the Free Church of Scotland 1843-1900 (2 vols,Edinburgh, 1914), Vol. 1, p. 302.27 Robert Shanks, The Trecenary Church of the Reformation, 1835 and the Free Church, Buckie(n.p. , [1877]), p. 2. The Duchess of Gordon also expressed concern over the increase ofpopery in Fochabers; see A. Moody Stuart, Life and Letters of the Elisabeth, Last Duchess ofGordon (Edinburgh, 1869), p. 127.


seated for 800. Shanks was still travelling on behalf of the Society, butretained a close interest in Buckie chapel, which remained without aminister for two years. The Presbytery reported to the Church ExtensionCommittee: “How to maintain a minister among them remains amystery when we consider the poverty of the people, their ignorance andthe prevalence of Popery among them. It is not to be expected that allthat could be realised [for a stipend] would exceed between £20 and£30.” Shanks later recalled, “I had witnessed the sad realities andthought this people two hundred years in arrear of Scottish civilisa-tion”.28 In the spring of 1837, when working for the Reformation Societyin Ireland, he received a communication asking him to take a call toBuckie, and his immediate return was urgently required. Shanksaccepted and he was inducted to the new chapel on 6th July 1837.

In visiting his congregation, Shanks discovered that there were 216adults who did not know the alphabet. The minister later recalled, “frommorning till night I taught, repeating the Lord’s prayer, the tencommandments, and the creed, requiring the big learners to repeat afterme sentence by sentence, till their memories got full possession . . .looking back on this work, I enjoy the hope that many of these once darkdisciples have entered into the everlasting rest”. There were 400communicants in 1842.29

The Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledgeestablished a school in Buckie in 1753. In 1840 the teacher left and notlong afterwards the Buckie school was “withdrawn by the Society on thegrounds that the schoolhouse had been allowed to fall into decay”.30

Shanks started another school in his barn adjoining the house he boughtfor himself, there being no manse. He initially acted as teacher andoften had to run after boys to catch them for their lessons. After theappointment of a teacher he continued to “visit the school each day tosee if there were any children in need of chastisement, a duty which MrShanks liked to see well done, and which he did himself. It is recordedthat he was a much more awe-inspiring figure than the teacher himselfand consequently his whippings had a greater effect.”31 Around this

28 Shanks, Trecenary Church of the Reformation, p. 2.29 ibid., p. 3.30 New Statistical Account of Scotland (1845), Vol. 13, p. 266.31 Banffshire Advertiser, 11th April 1929.


time, the Duke of Gordon offered to present Shanks to one of theparishes over which he exercised Patronage.32

In 1839 Shanks was once again thrust into controversy. The sevenModerate ministers who formed the majority of the Presbytery ofStrathbogie were determined to induct Rev John Edwards to the Parishof Marnoch in obedience to the Civil Courts but against the wishes of thecongregation and the instructions of the Commission of Assembly. Therebel ministers were suspended by the Commission and on Sabbath,22nd December 1839, the suspensions came into effect and ministerswere sent to preach their churches vacant.33 Shanks was to preach inRhynie and he proceeded to Huntly where he joined four Aberdeenclergymen, Messrs. Gordon, Murray, Spence and Simpson. TheProcurator Fiscal and Sheriff Watson of Aberdeen were present in thetown along with Messengers at Arms to serve the suspensions andinterdicts, and also constables to keep an eye on public order at thechurches of the suspended ministers. The Court of Session had alreadyinterdicted the Assembly’s preachers from using the church buildings.

Shanks arrived at Rhynie on Saturday afternoon, on the ministerof Gartly’s grey pony. On Sabbath morning, accompanied by the Sheriff,Shanks had bills posted intimating that he was to preach in the square.Over a hundred gathered, although the Aberdeen Herald claimed most ofthem were from other parishes. The pro-Moderate Aberdeen Journalclaimed that Shanks had distributed anonymous publications criticisingthe suspended ministers. There follows an example:

STOP! FRIENDS!!“Let not man prevail.” – Psalm ix. 19.

Two things are in danger, THE PRINCIPLES OF THECHURCH AND THE PAY OF HER CLERGY.

The Commission deems the principles to be more important thanthe pay; because the Law of God secures the one and the Law ofthe Land the other. If the two were at variance, which should aPresbyterian people prefer? With a guinea on each eye, can you seethe question impartially?

32 Robert Shanks, The Organ in the Church of Scotland: a Letter to His Grace the Duke ofRichmond (London, 1875), p. 3.33 R. Buchanan, The Ten Years Conflict (2 vols, Edinburgh, 1861), Vol. 2, pp. 18-52.


What have Presbyterian ministers solemnly promised? To submitto Presbyterian Government and Discipline, and to concurwith the same, and never to endeavour, directly or indirectly,the subversion thereof, notwithstanding of whatever trouble orpersecution may arise.

The suspended minister, Rev William Allardyce, preached as usual inthe church.34

In 1842 Buckie was the largest fishing port on the Moray Firth,with 117 large and 28 small boats.35 Each summer, the men crossed theMoray Firth to Caithness where they fished for a considerable part of theyear. The parish minister wrote, “Many of the fishermen are sober,industrious and well behaved men and have laid up considerable savings.Others are thoughtless, and too frequently spend foolishly what theyhave earned with so much danger and hardship.”36 In 1848, the Buckiecorrespondent to the Banffshire Journal commented, “the only drawbackto a fisherman’s advancement is his unremitting visits to the dram shop.The curer generally pays each boats crew for the fish caught during theweek, upon Saturday afternoon. Upon receipt of the monies the skipperand crew almost invariably repair to the public house, to pay old scorescontracted during the week, and where, in most cases that night and notinfrequently part of the Sabbath, is spent in riot and debauchery.” Henoted that while other trades were experiencing increasing prosperity,fishermen were falling behind and though their earnings were higherthan any other tradesmen or mechanics, they were generally heavilyburdened with debts.37 The previous year witnessed serious disorder onthe Moray Firth coast following the failure of the potato crop. Mobs triedto seize grain awaiting export at various ports, including Buckie. SheriffCurrie of Banff, following a hearing in Cullen, chastised the culprits,advising them to learn from the Bible how Jacob, in a time of real famine,sent his sons to Egypt to buy corn, not to steal it.38

When Shanks first arrived in Buckie, pitched battles in the streetwere commonplace on Sabbath afternoons. In the face of such violentconduct, Shanks employed a hands-on approach which went well beyond

34 Aberdeen Herald, 28th December 1839.35 J. M. Wilson (ed.), Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland (4 vols, Edinburgh, n.d.), Vol. 1, p. 205.36 New Statistical Account of Scotland, Vol. 13, p. 227.37 Banffshire Journal, 14th March 1848.38 Banffshire Journal, 16th February 1847.


speeches on temperance. His successor recalled, “With uncommonbodily strength, great courage, rare perseverance, with a singular powerof reading men’s hearts and of managing them, making them do his willwhen they did not know they were doing it, with an acute observingmind, ready wit, never at a loss for an answer and with a habit of lookingfar ahead, he devoted himself thoroughly to the good of the place . . . heput an end to evil customs, superstitious observances, penny weddingsand Sabbath funerals, stopped fights with drawn knives . . . he often toldme he emptied the church for a week or two when he attacked favouriteevils, but he never flinched”.39 Especially when the fishermen had madea lot of money, the minister “paid periodical visits to the various publichouses in the town and was quick to settle any differences which mightarise. One look from the giant minister-policeman was usually sufficientto quell any belligerent spirit and when that did not suffice he had othermethods even more effective.”40 When drunken fishermen landed inCourt, “many a family was indebted to Mr Shanks for pleading theircause and making things lighter for them. . . . He was a friend of SheriffGordon in Banff and used his influence in many cases to save peoplebeing banished from the country.”41

In January 1843, Shanks assisted Rev Andrew Bonar, then ofCollace, in speaking at non-intrusion meetings in Aberdeenshire. Theyfaced a difficult task because Aberdeenshire was noted for its cold andbitter Moderatism. At Keith-hall, Shanks is reported as having spoken ofhow “the church must do as the nobles of the land dictate. The parsonsthey thrust upon us, we must believe, think and act as they bid us. Healso informed us of one patron or laird who had some of the churchendowments entrusted to his discretion to apply them for religiouspurposes but instead used them for building roads and bridges.”42

3. Pastor and philanthropistAfter the Disruption, Shanks advanced the sum of £60 for a site for aFree Church in the nearby town of Cullen.43 The Duchess of Gordonand the other principal donors asked that the Buckie church should

39 Banffshire Advertiser, 24th April 1884. 40 Banffshire Advertiser, 5th December 1918.41 Banffshire Advertiser, 5th December 1918. 42 Aberdeen Herald, 22nd January 1843.43 Banffshire Journal, 31st July 1903.


Rev. Robert Shanks.[Courtesy of the Buckie District Fishing Heritage Museum]

continue to be used by “Mr Shanks’ congregation”. The congregationtold the Established Presbytery that it was willing to return thesubscription of any donor who requested it. Although the heritors werecontent with this, the Established Presbytery initiated legal proceedingsover the church building while refusing to be responsible for any debtsoutstanding. Shanks bought a feu for a church in case the law case wentagainst the Free Church, which in the event, it did. An appeal waslaunched to construct a new Free Church and schools and duringtwo summers, the minister toured most of the large towns of the southto raise funds.44 Meanwhile, the Established congregation was

44 R. Shanks, Free Church of Scotland, Buckie (n.p. , [1850]).


re-constituted and a new minister settled. This congregation is still inexistence as the North Parish Church.

Shanks began work on the schools, by unroofing and heighteningexisting cottages at an estimated cost of £350.45 When the tenders for thechurch came in, the office bearers were anxious about the cost and “noneof them could be got to become parties to the contracts. In thisemergency he, single-handed, applied to the manager of the bank inAberdeen, and such was the confidence inspired by his personalapplication that the banker did not hesitate to grant the requiredaccommodation.”46 The church, adjoining the schools and with afrontage onto the High Street including a tall spire, was seated for 1,060and cost £1,250. It is now known as the South and West Parish Church.The dressed stones were brought from Morayshire in fishing boats andthe women carried them up from the harbour on their backs. The churchwas opened on 15th December 1850 by Rev James Bryce of FreeGilcomston Church, Aberdeen, who preached from Haggai 2:9, “Theglory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith theLord of hosts”.47 The congregation were “highly indebted to aneighbouring proprietor, of a distinctly different persuasion as regardsreligion, for the promptitude with which he granted the use of a quarryupon his estates for the erection of the building”.48 The schools werelater converted into church halls.49 The congregation incurred heavydebts through having to build a second church within ten years. By 1853the annual income of the congregation was £190 13s.50

Notwithstanding the town’s thriving fishing industry, the lack ofan adequate harbour led to the loss of many boats and several lives instormy weather. On several occasions, the brawny minister helped tohaul men ashore from wrecked vessels on the rocks.51 In 1845, theproprietor, Colonel Gordon of Cluny was asked by the fishermen ifhe would improve the harbour. He instead suggested they should do

45 W. Barclay, The Schools and Schoolmasters of Banffshire (Banff, 1925), p. 119.46 Banffshire Advertiser, 5th June 1890.47 James Bryce was born in Renfrew in 1792. He was the schoolmaster of St. Ninian’s,Stirling, before being ordained to Stamfordham, Northumberland, in 1829. He came toAberdeen in 1835, in succession to Dr Kidd. See F. Lyall and W. Still, History of GilcomstonSouth Church, Aberdeen, 1868-1968 (Aberdeen, 1967), pp. 8-11.48 Banffshire Journal, 24th December 1850.49 Ewing, Annals of the Free Church of Scotland, Vol. 2, p. 19450 Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, Vol. 4, pp. 644-45.51 Banffshire Journal, 2nd April 1878.


something themselves and asked Robert Shanks to take charge. Theminister led the fishermen in constructing a wooden harbour. Itconsisted of “a small basin about one and three quarter acres in extent,excavated out of the rocky shore sheltered by a light timber breakwaterfilled in with rubble stone at the expense of £950”.52 “The reverendgentleman very often gaffered the men himself and it was no unusualsight for him to be seen with pick or shovel in his hand. Each boat’s crewcontributed so much towards the undertaking, but the pier was ratherlow and possessed little or no weight to counterbalance the buoyancy ofthe timber, so that in the course of half a dozen years, a storm washedit away. This was a severe blow to Mr Shanks who had to pay the mostof the cost of £950 out of his own pocket for its erection.” The openwooden piers did not provide shelter in a storm and boats at theirmoorings had to be pulled up on the beach. Boats at sea could not headfor the harbour and had to seek shelter elsewhere.53 From 1849, Shankspreached an annual sermon on behalf of the Shipwrecked MarinersBenevolent Society.

By August 1853, the Banffshire Journal commented that the harbourhad “proved totally unfit to withstand the storms of the Moray Firth andis now in such a ruined condition as to be utterly useless. In consequence,the fishermen have no place of landing their boats, but must take allthe risk and labour connected with beaching them every time theyreturn from the sea.” The same article pointed out that there was noadequate harbour between Lossiemouth and Banff – a distance of someforty miles.54

Shortly after his arrival in Buckie, Shanks, with the aid of hiswalking stick on a rainy day, explained the benefits of sanitation, whichhad never been heard of before in the town.55 In July 1848, he drew upa Memorial to the Board of Trade, on behalf of the fishermen of Buckiewhich was signed by over 400 men. It objected to a treaty with the Frenchgovernment which gave them fishing rights within three miles from theBritish coast, in exchange for British fishermen being allowed to dredgefor oysters off the French coast.56

52 Capt. J. Washington, Report on the Loss of Life and on the Damage Caused to Fishing Boats onthe East Coast of Scotland in the Gale of 18 August 1848, British Session Papers, LI 177-97.53 George Hutcheson, Days of Yore: Buckie and District in the Past (Buckie, 1887), pp. 54-5. 54 Banffshire Journal, 23rd August 1853.55 Buckie South United Free Church, Book of the Bazaar.56 Banffshire Journal, 11th July 1848.


In 1853, on 7th June, Shanks married Mary Fulton, a native ofLanarkshire, who was his junior by nearly thirty years. They had a familyof five daughters and two sons.57 One of the daughters, Margaret, wasmarried to Rev John P. Berry, Free Church minister of Ceres.58 Anotherdaughter, Christian, was married to James Milne, banker, ofGarmouth.59 Both the sons attended the Chanonry House School in OldAberdeen. John inherited the pioneering spirit of his father andemigrated to South Africa where he became an ostrich farmer in theTransvaal. In 1899 he was “commandeered” by the Boers, but escaping,he joined Driscoll’s Scouts. He was subsequently killed in an ambush.His copious diaries were published posthumously as Vagabond Sketches inSouth Africa.60

In 1854, in view of the imminent outbreak of the Crimean Warwith Russia, the Government formed the Royal Naval Coast Volunteers,which would consist of 10,000 men including 1,500 in Scotland. To thatend, Captain Craigie, R.N., addressed public meetings in coastal towns,at which names of intending volunteers were taken. The Buckiefishermen, however, had long memories and recalling the NapoleonicWars, feared that they would be press-ganged into the navy. The patrioticShanks was happy to dispel their fears. He told them that having read theadvertisements placed by the Navy, he realised that it was “a plan forkeeping the fishermen at home to guard their own homes and firesideswhile the enemy was being faced by our fleets in the Black Sea, and, itmay be, in other distant seas. It were possible that, when our fleets wereat a distance, the enemy might seek to make a descent on our coast; butI saw at once that the very thing to deter him was the knowledge that,though the fleets may be at a distance, our shores were guarded by thosewho had the greatest interest in their defence.” He went on, “So well doI think of the project that, if it were right and lawful, I should be quite

57 The 1871 Census records the residents of 21 Church Street, Buckie, as: Rev RobertShanks, 70; Mrs Mary Shanks, 42; Christian, 16; Margaret, 14; Mary Jane, 12; Isabella,11; Jessie, 9; John, 7; Robert, 5; Jane Smith (governess), 19; Ellen Mitchell, 20; and JaneRiach, 23 (servants). 58 Berry was born in Aberdeen in 1852. He was ordained to Ceres, Fife, in 1879 andtranslated to Colliston in 1913. He died in 1914; see Ewing, Annals of the Free Church ofScotland, Vol. 1, p. 95; J. A. Lamb, Fasti of the United Free Church of Scotland, 1900-1929(Edinburgh, 1956), p. 398.59 They later moved to “Speybank”, High Wycombe, where Christian died on 23rd June1924. 60 Alexander Shewan, Spirat Adhuc Amor (Aberdeen, 1923), p. 411.


willing to be one of the volunteers myself ! . . . and let me say that I haveno doubt whatsoever of the good faith of the Government. In thiscountry there can be nothing like trickery in our Government. (Cheers)All is honest, open, and fair. (Cheers).”61

In 1857 the magnificent new St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Chapelwas opened in Buckie. Its twin-spired west front, modelled on ElginCathedral, dominates the western approach to the town. It wasnicknamed “the twa horns o’ the beastie” by the Protestant fishermen.

4. Storm over Buckie

During the winter of 1857-8, the issue of the poor financial contributionsof the Buckie congregation was raised at various Assembly Committees,and the Free Presbytery of Fordyce was asked to make enquiries. Certainmembers of the congregation raised additional concerns about theminister’s conduct. On 5th and 6th May 1858, the Presbytery, along witha deputation from the Free Synod of Aberdeen, met “to enquire intocertain matters connected with the ministerial duties and financematters” of Robert Shanks. Shanks told the Presbytery that he intendedto demit his charge. To allow him to settle his temporal affairs, thePresbytery agreed that his resignation would not come into effect untilMartinmas. The Presbytery later claimed his resignation was “whollyvoluntary and there was neither bodily weakness nor mental excitementapparent”.62 His supporters alleged that the investigation was biasedagainst Shanks. While his opponents were “chambered with thePresbytery in the Manse of Cullen for an hour before the publicmeeting” his supporters had no opportunity to speak up for him. Theyclaimed that their minister was “weak and excited and in great need ofcounsel”.63 Moreover, they objected “it was notorious not only that MrShanks was so concussed in the so-called court, but that during the shortinterval of the second day, when he might have had leisure andopportunity for calm reflection, he was followed into his house by amember of the Court, and even there the pressure was continued till hisconsent was extracted”.64 “A thrill of grief ran through the town onannouncement of his intention to leave. . . . We must, however, say that

61 Banffshire Journal, 31st January 1854; Hutcheson, Days of Yore p. 27.62 Banffshire Journal, 15th February 1859.63 Banffshire Journal, 8th March 1859.64 ibid.


some of the demonstrations shewn, especially by the female sex, were byno means very becoming, and quite unchristian. Stones had beenthrown, banns pronounced, and vengeance threatened by membersagainst members of the same congregation.”65

Shanks’ resignation came into effect on the term day of Martinmaswhich was 22nd November.66 On 8th November, a “pretendedcongregational meeting”, called by the Deacons’ Court and chaired byan elder, had given notice to Mr Dow, the teacher, who was opposed toShanks. The majority party were allegedly keeping their children awayfrom the school. At the next Presbytery at Cullen, two hundred ofShanks’ congregation turned up at the meeting in support of a petitionto annul the resignation. In spite of much protest, the Presbytery insistedthat the resignation having taken effect, the matter was beyond theirpower to alter. It was later claimed that many of the minister’s supportersreturned to Buckie “in a state of intoxication. The noise and squalling ontheir way home was disgraceful . . . their rejected petition was lost, it issaid, at or near a public house.”67 Rev Archibald Smellie (Banff) wasappointed to preach the church vacant the following Sabbath 28thNovember. Shanks’ supporters, “in the belief that if Mr Smellie gainedadmission all would be lost . . . from the moment of their return homeguarded the church with a jealous wakefulness”. When the official partyarrived at Buckie, they found the church doors firmly locked and adetermined crowd outside. It was claimed that a number of youths were“hired with sweeties to make a noise and cry all kinds of abusivelanguage”. Smellie considered holding the service in the adjoiningschool, and obtained the key from Mr Dow. While attempting to enterthe school, one of the party, Mr Bremner, Inspector of Poor, not the mostpopular man in Buckie at the best of times, had the key grabbed fromhim and was roughed up by “infuriated fish wives”. One, in passingSmellie, threatened a blow with her fist, crying, “Ye needna come here”;another at same time, at a little distance, exclaiming, “Them come here topreach the Gospel!”. Smellie was also allegedly called “a devil” by severalwomen. He considered holding a service outside the front door but he

65 Banffshire Journal, 8th May 1858.66 The Church festival of Martinmas is 11th November, but following the change of thecalendar and the loss of eleven days in 1752, the term day of Martinmas in Scotland wasfor legal purposes reckoned to be 22nd November.67 Aberdeen Free Press, 24th December 1858.


decided that “to have attempted to worship God in the state ofexcitement prevailing would have been little short of desecration”.68

One of Shanks’ elders then read a statement on behalf of theTrustees of the church claiming that the Presbytery had no right topreach the charge vacant when they had lodged a protest and appeal atCullen. Smellie decided that discretion was advisable and simplydeclared the church vacant, intimating that a service would be held at2 p.m. at Hilton Farm, the home of Mr Hector, a leading opponent of theminister. Although Shanks refused to preach because a service was beingheld at Hilton, he held a prayer meeting in a field near the church. “Somany being here met, there is propriety in hearing what the God ofHeaven says to every man, as all men must stand at the judgement seatof God. . . . The countenances of almost all give plain signs of concernthis day. I therefore read what should be comforting to every man whoexpects to meet Almighty God. I read the 14th chapter of the Gospel ofJohn . . . ”69 Shank’s opponents claimed that people were “threatenedwith personal violence” if they went to Hilton and that many of thosewho did were compelled to return home by a circuitous route to avoidpassing the church where, by then, an “immense mob” had gathered.Those who made the mistake of going home from the official service byway of the High Street were “assailed by every opprobrious epithet”.70

Shanks also held a prayer meeting in the Seatown at 7 p.m. at which “heexpressed thanks to God for the noble testimony that had been borne onhis behalf that day”. In addition, Shanks continued to administer thesacrament of baptism, with the agreement of the Interim Moderator.

Rev Alexander Robb, probationer, was appointed to supply Buckiebut failed to meet with general acceptance and the church remainedfirmly closed.71 One elder objected: “A greater piece of intrusion wasnever manifested than to force on them a gentleman whom they knewnothing about.” Official services were moved to a chapel at Arradoulwhere around two hundred were usually in attendance. The minister’ssupporters held prayer meetings, led by the elders, in a hall. Shanksusually participated as a member. On the second Sabbath of December,

68 Banffshire Journal, 4th January 1859.69 Banffshire Journal, 30th November 1858. 70 Aberdeen Free Press, 24th December 1858.71 Robb was born at Peterhead in 1815. He worked with his brother in the fish trade andwas later a teacher. He was ordained to the charge of Pluscarden in 1859 and died in1884; see Ewing, Annals of the Free Church of Scotland, Vol. 1, p. 299.


a rumour circulated around daybreak that the locks of the church hadbeen forced. Soon, several hundred people had assembled at the churchand they occupied the building until the hour of service arrived. Robbappeared but “there was so general a demurer that the reverendgentleman, who conducted matters very courteously, deemed it the mostprudent course to withdraw”. Shank’s supporters objected to the fact thatRobb was clearly taking sides by residing at Hilton farm with Mr Hectorand by hissing the pro-Shanks deputation at the Presbytery. It wasclaimed that during the incident outside the church he had challengedsome of the crowd to fight, saying “that he would tak’ up ony twal’ o’them as a boxer an’ lay upon them”. Robb stated at the Presbytery, thathe was “told not to come [to Buckie] or my head would be broken . . .some of the parties I see around me today, and, in justice, I think theyought to have been called before a civil court for their conduct towardsmyself that day”.

Petitions were received from both supporters and opponents at tworather rowdy Presbytery meetings. The fishermen wanted the minister tobe allowed to occupy his pulpit until the case was settled. Their ignoranceof procedures caused great amusement to the other party and they weresubjected to considerable sarcasm and mockery. One man exclaimed:“Mr Dow is laughing there. You need not laugh. There will be a day ofjudgement yet.” There was a lengthy discussion about the validity ofnames on the petition of people who were resident temporarily on thenorth side of the firth, i.e. in Sutherland and Caithness for the herringseason. Shanks’ opponents stated that he was “using the congregation asa tool – working them as his tool” and claimed that almost all of Shanks’supporters had not paid their seat rents since the church was opened. Itwas alleged that Shanks had “fomented and encouraged opposition” tothe Presbytery.72 On the other hand, there were allegations about Robb’sconduct, and Mr Hector was asked, “How much bribery have you used,for the few you have got, with your potatoes and turnips?”.73 At the Synodof Aberdeen, there were further appeals from both parties. Whilesustaining the Presbytery’s refusal to cancel the resignation, the Synodreferred the whole matter to the forthcoming Assembly.

The 1859 Assembly was presented with a petition from 800 peopleasking for Shanks’ reinstatement, and his opponents were refused

72 Banffshire Journal, 7th and 14th December 1858, 4th January 1859.73 Banffshire Journal, 15th February 1859.


permission to bring the issue of the occupancy of the church to the Courtof Session. Given the complex nature of the issue, the Assembly took theextraordinary step of appointing a Special Commission, which met inBuckie on 14th and 15th June 1859 in the Free Church School. Shanks’supporters gathered en masse in the church, awaiting the result. TheCommission decided that in case of disturbance it would be prudent tostay overnight in Fochabers. It was a formidable group of men andincluded Robert Candlish (Moderator), James Buchanan, James Begg,Davidson (Lady Glenorchy’s, Edinburgh), MacKenzie (Dunfermline)and William Wilson (Dundee). Candlish began proceedings byemphasising the seriousness of the situation which had arisen. The case,he said, “has drawn towards it the eyes of scoffers and profane men, thehearts of God’s people have been deeply grieved, deeply vexed andwounded and I am very sure the friends of the Free Church have had tohang their heads in very shame when the name Buckie is pronounced,for some time back”.

Shanks faced numerous accusations: undertaking manual labourto the neglect of his clerical duties, financial irregularities, claiming themanse as his private house, neglect of visiting, laxity of church discipline,and encouraging opposition to the presbytery following his resignation.Candlish emphasised that if the accusations were found to be “frivolous,unfounded, involving no serious charge” then “the way was open to ask,should the minister’s resignation be recalled?”.

Shanks’ opponents claimed that when the harbour was beingbuilt in 1845, he “wrought with pick, axe and shovel, as an ordinaryworkman”, not every day but “very often, and habitually”. The ministerallegedly went down to the shore at low tide at 4 or 5 a.m. to quarrystones. He was seen working “without coat, hat or neckcloth”, and“latterly attired as other labourers with hairy cap and strong navvieboots”, which, his opponents claimed, “was injurious of his usefulness asa minister”. He was so much engaged on the harbour construction thathe excused himself from Presbytery on the grounds that “It is streamtide”.74 Shanks was noticed “on top of houses, unroofing them, throwingup stones on the scaffold and filling barrows and carts”. His supportersadmitted that the minister helped out but claimed he was at the harbour“for an hour or two, but never a whole day”, mainly assisting with heavylifts. He worked at the harbour “say twenty days in one year”. He also

74 Aberdeen Free Press, 24th December 1858.


admitted he “might have lent a hand” when his gardener was cartingmanure. His opponents claimed that the minister’s secular labour had animpact on the quality of his sermons which were “not well connected,and were lacking heads”.

The minister apparently dealt with many cases of discipline bycalling in one or two elders instead of the whole session and cases ofdrunkenness were sorted out privately by the minister. Claims offinancial irregularities were dismissed as “great laxity” in record keepingrather than “intentional fraud”. The extreme lack of money had led toShanks obtaining loans on his own account, and having such an interestin his house that he treated it as his own property rather than as a manse.He agreed to having it declared wholly the property of the church. It isobvious that record keeping was not his forte. In 1875 it was stated thatthere was no complete communion roll in existence and written minuteswere not kept for at least sixteen years previous to that date.75

After his resignation, Shanks was accused of “fomenting defianceof the Presbytery’s authority” and “instigating the parties who wereguilty of riotous conduct and of profane and threatening language on theLord’s Day”. In his preaching before his resignation took effect, Shankspurportedly made personal allusions to his opponents such that theystopped attending his services.

The Commission decided to restore Shanks to his charge and,while critical of his management of the congregation, expressedsympathy in respect of the burdens he bore almost single-handed.Buchanan commented, “we can understand, and even appreciatecircumstances in which Mr Shanks engaged in secular labour . . . howeverthe business of a minister is to do the work of the ministry”. Mackenzie,who was formerly minister of Drumblade, recalled: “When Mr Thorburnof Forglen and myself used to speak of Buckie we could not for the life ofus understand how Mr Shanks could have taken upon himself the workhe had done and the risks he had run even with the aid of a fortune.”Begg urged the office bearers to bear a greater share of the practical work.The Presbytery was censured for holding the private meetings.76

The Banffshire Journal commented, “Mr Shanks sinned from excessof zeal” and suggested that heavy debts of the congregation as a resultof erecting two churches in succession led to the minister taking on

75 Banffshire Journal, 20th April 1875.76 Banffshire Journal, 21st June 1859.


extra responsibilities. His enthusiasm “overcame all notions of clericaldecorum”. “He would have had his speciality in an African orback-woods mission, where he would have been at once prophet, priestand king.”

The minority group, numbering some one hundred and fifty,applied to be received by the United Presbyterian Presbytery ofBanffshire. The Free Church was reopened and Rev James MacKenzie,Dunfermline,77 and Rev David Dewar, Bellie,78 officiated until theAugust Commission of Assembly rubberstamped the reappointment ofRobert Shanks. Shanks preached for the first time in many months onJob 36:2: “Suffer me a little, and I will shew thee that I have yet to speakon God’s behalf.”79 The Aberdeen Free Press, which supported the liberalwing of the Free Church, commented, “The party opposed to Mr Shanksare understood to be the more wealthy and willing in the congregationand throughout the Enzie district – and indeed from Banff to Elgin –there is but one feeling of astonishment expressed by persons acquaintedwith the state of matters for some years past in Buckie”.80

5. The later years

The influence of the 1859-60 Revival was felt throughout Scotland, butnowhere more so than on the North East coast. The movement firstaffected in Buckie in February 1860. It was reported the excitement was“quite unequalled, it is believed, by anything which has yet taken placein Scotland”. Shanks agreed to have the Peterhead cooper turnedRevivalist lay-preacher James Turner speak in his church and also hadthe adjoining schools heated up so that those under spiritual concerncould speak to the revivalist afterwards.81 However Shanks insisted onconducting the services himself. In the middle of his sermon, Turnerattempted to give out a hymn, Shanks objected, “remarking that no one

77 Mackenzie was born at Barry, Angus, in 1817 and ordained to Dalbeattie in March1843. He was translated to Annan in 1844 and to Dunfermline Abbey in 1849; see Ewing,Annals of the Free Church of Scotland, Vol. 1, p. 239.78 Dewar was born at Markinch, Fife, in 1796 and became chaplain to the Duchess ofGordon in 1830. He was ordained to Bellie in 1837 and adhered to Free Church 1843; seeEwing, Annals of the Free Church of Scotland, Vol. 1, p. 136. The Duchess spoke of him as “atrue Nathaniel”. His obituary is in the Huntly Express, 9th May 1885. 79 Aberdeen Free Press, 19th August 1859.80 Aberdeen Free Press, 24th June 1859. 81 Reminiscences of the Revival of 1859 and the Sixties (Aberdeen, 1909), pp. 71-5; T. Lennie,Glory in the Glen: a History of Evangelical Revivals in Scotland (Fearn, 2010), pp. 196-99.


could pen anything as good as the Psalms”. The minister also endea-voured to calm the growing excitement but was accused of “hinderingthe Holy Spirit”. He then spoke on the duty of self-examination butdisturbances resumed and there were calls to withdraw to the UnitedPresbyterian hall. Eventually the police arrived and cleared the church,one pew at a time. “The great majority went to the United Presbyteriancongregation’s hall and commenced a regular revival meeting.”82

The Free Presbytery of Fordyce asked for reports on the Revivalfrom the congregations within its bounds. The Buckie Session stated,“On the minister’s return to public duty, the subject of family andpersonal religion was strongly pressed from the pulpit . . . religiousfeeling and spiritual fruit became more manifest”. Some of the earlydistrict meetings witnessed prostrations (which Shanks argued werecaused by fasting and walking long distances), “the chanting of hymns toexpel fiends or produce holy raptures, and a great variety of prayers andejaculations by both men and women”. Shanks found that most of thoseprostrated were unable to connect the experience with conviction of sin.He believed that these novelties “being neither scriptural nor inagreement with the doctrine and worship found to be agreeable to thewill of God” should have no place among his people, and ensured thatthe Free Church meetings were conducted in an orderly and reverentmanner. Some of the most “ardent and artful” were offended and left thechurch, but most remained and the church meetings “were characterisedby great regularity of attendance, and by earnest attention to the Wordread and preached . . . none of what are called the revival hymns weresung, rarely any paraphrases, usually the psalms only”.83

It has been claimed that after his appointment to Buckie, Shanks“avoided religious controversy and the bitter feelings which had beenaroused against him among the Roman Catholic section of thecommunity soon disappeared and some of his former opponents wereafterwards counted as his warm friends”.84 While his congregationalduties placed many additional demands on Shanks he continued tomaintain a witness against Rome. In 1865, in an echo of his early yearsin the ministry, Mr McCourt, a converted Roman Catholic priest, addressed two meetings in Shanks’ own church. During the first lecture,

82 Banffshire Journal, 28th February 1860.83 Banffshire Journal, 10th April 1860.84 Banffshire Advertiser, 24th April 1884.


on Transubstantiation, “very unbecoming conduct” was witnessedoutside the church and Shanks twice went to the doors to remonstratewith them. After the meeting, the speaker was “greatly insulted andthreatening language was used towards him” and was struck with stoneson his way to his lodgings. The next morning he was “hunted on thestreet and terribly threatened”. At the close of the second meeting, on theWorship of Mary, as the congregation was singing Psalm 46, “the stoneswere coming in through the windows”. Shanks rose and said that “he hadlived peaceably with the Roman Catholics of Buckie for a number ofyears but their conduct that night was a rebuke for his long silence”.Shanks “then engaged most earnestly in prayer for a few minutes,imploring the Almighty to protect them all as they left the church, andat all times”.85

During his ministry in Buckie, Shanks was a member of theRathven Parochial Board, which administered poor relief. At a meetingon 7th November 1871, several wealthy farmers who were Boardmembers, attempted to relieve the landward part of the parish frompaying for the poor in the coastal villages and “put the whole burdenon tenants and house proprietors which would be ruination to theinhabitants of Buckie”. Shanks argued that taxation must takeaccount not only of the rental of a person’s property, but also of theircapital. He thought the proposed measure “would raise a great deal ofcontention in the parish and set one class of people against another.There was nothing like peace and harmony in the country. . . . Thestate of much of the population, perhaps should render them verycircumspect before giving any grounds of irritation amongst them,so that they might escape the troubles that had taken place in someforeign countries.”86

Although the motion was defeated, its proponents intended toreintroduce the matter at the next meeting of the board scheduled for25th January. A public meeting of the whole population of Buckie as wellas the other villages was announced, to be held in the Square outside theBoard’s offices, on the same morning. An excitable crowd of between twoand three thousand gathered. Several board members met in the nearbyhotel, and having seen the crowd, which they believed was an attempt atintimidation, considered it unwise to pass through the people to attend

85 Huntly Express, 2nd February 1865.86 Banffshire Journal, 14th November 1871.


the meeting. When Shanks arrived, one member said, “You have been atthe bottom of this!” and claimed that at the November meeting theminister had “made an allusion to the state of France, and used thewords physical force and Revolution”. In fact, it was subsequentlyconfirmed that two local businessmen had paid for the town crier toannounce the meeting. Shanks believed that he had been vindicated – inspite of “a pretence of great mystery or plotting” regarding the meeting,“now the mystery was evaporated into air”.87

Some board members decided to attempt to go down to the office andhold the meeting as intended but were pushed and shoved and the crowdpurportedly tried to crush them. Two policemen were also roughlyhandled. Because of his influence over the fishermen, Shanks was askedto attempt to calm down the crowd. There were cries of “Let them comeand speak and no be like thieves and dee things ahin’ folks’ backs” andthe minister said that he was in favour of holding the meeting in theSquare. The other members, however, were unwilling to do this. Twoboard members who were prominent advocates of the unpopular motion,were pelted with stones and clods of earth before being chased out oftown and across the fields. When one of them took refuge in a farmhousea crowd surrounded the building, smashed the windows, attempted toput the door in and allegedly threatened to burn down the farm. Theauthorities were greatly concerned and considered calling out theVolunteers to disperse the mob. The riot even came to the attention ofParliament. In spite of the obvious drama, none of the board membershad significant injuries.

Subsequently ten people were arrested and appeared before theHigh Court at Aberdeen charged with mobbing and rioting. Theminister appeared as a witness and tried to play down the affair. “I didnot notice crushing or pushing. I spoke to all the people I could on thesquare, and none of them intended to make a riot,” he recalled. “Theyare a peaceable people. There has been no police case during the lastyear.” One of the accused was a woman. Shanks said of her, “There is ahereditary defect in respect of intelligence”. He went on, “And what doyou say to ‘Gibb Tam’? He’s weak. He has a deficiency in hearing. I knowthe other boys . . . they are, and always have been, considered decentlads.” The verdict was “not proven”.88

87 Banffshire Journal, 13th February 1872.88 Banffshire Journal, 13th February and 30th April 1872.


In December 1874, a congregational meeting was held to elect acolleague and successor to Shanks. In January 1875 the Free Presbyteryof Fordyce met in Buckie to moderate in a call to Rev Alexander Miller,assistant at Free St. Stephen’s, Glasgow.89 A large number of dissenterswould have preferred Mr Archibald Cook Sutherland.90 Shanks wasunhappy with the definition of his colleague’s duties. He had agreed to“give up the practical management of the congregation”, but he did notaccept that this should mean his surrendering control of the pulpit andthe chairmanship of the Session and Deacons’ Court. Rev J. W. Geddie,Banff, criticised the minister for obstructive behaviour during theproceedings. The week after the edict was served, he apparently “enteredthe pulpit and declaimed against the Presbytery, charging them withoverbearing conduct and depriving him of his rights as a Presbyterianminister”. Geddie implied that Shanks encouraged the opposition whichwas so extensive that the Synod had to send a deputation to Buckie tocalm the disquiet before the induction proceeded.91

In 1875 Shanks wrote a pamphlet against instrumental music inresponse to the Duke of Richmond’s gift of an organ to the EstablishedChurch at Enzie. Shanks called the organ “a gift of questionablelegitimacy” and traced the growing corruption in the medieval churchwhich first led to the use of instruments in worship. He argued, “Theorgan you have inadvertently presented sprang from the imagination ofman in the Dark Ages, is not an institution of God . . . and is part of humanritualism which his Majesty’s Government last year denounced andlargely curtailed by their own authority [in the Church of England]”.92

In 1878, the Shanks family left Buckie for Aberdeen. The BanffshireJournal commented, “The inhabitants miss his kindly greeting whenmeeting him on his many travels through our streets”.93 Initially Shankslived at 62 Bon Accord Street.94 The family appears to have been

89 Miller was born in Thurso in 1843 and studied at Aberdeen University; see Ewing,Annals of the Free Church of Scotland, Vol. 1, p. 267.90 Sutherland was born at Lybster, Caithness and ordained to Dalguise and Strathbraanin 1870. He moved to Australia in 1885; see Ewing, Annals of the Free Church of Scotland,Vol. 1, p. 335.91 Banffshire Journal, 2nd February 1875.92 Robert Shanks, The Organ in the Church of Scotland, p. 12.93 Banffshire Journal, 3rd June 1878.94 The 1881 census for Aberdeen records that Jessie and John were still at home, alongwith Agnes Farquhar, 21, a servant. John was at that time a clerk with the MidlandRailway in Aberdeen.


worshipping at the Free High Church in Belmont Street because theminister, Rev Henry W. Bell, assisted Shanks at the wedding of hisdaughter Margaret in 1879.95 Later Shanks moved to Gladstone Placeand lastly to 24 Gordondale Road, where he died on 17th April 1884.96

His passing was unexpected as he was in robust health and had beenelected a member of the forthcoming Assembly by the Presbytery ofFordyce. Mrs. Shanks died at 56 Fountainhall Road, Aberdeen on 15thAugust 1889 aged 62.97

6. Conclusion

Robert Shanks was an unusual man and he had an unusual life. He waslarger-than-life – large in physique and large in personality. Hisdetermination and his strong religious convictions led him into frequentcontroversy and made him many enemies. However, his kindness,generosity, and love and care for his flock and adopted town made himmany devoted followers and friends.

He was associated with more riots and tumults than is usual withministers of the gospel but it does not appear that he was entirely toblame for this. The testimony of the Roman Catholic physician DonaldCarmichael, when prevented from speaking at one of these disorderlyoccasions, that Shanks’ “conduct was always gentlemanly and polite . . .and I cannot entertain towards him any other sentiments than those offriendship and respect”, strongly suggests that Shanks was not the causeof the trouble.

Shanks’ attitude to the 1859 Revival is interesting. He was happyto countenance the somewhat irregular work of evangelism and public-speaking by laymen, but he was resolutely opposed to the excesses, andhe would not allow the excitement to undermine the divinely institutedorder in the Church. He shows the caution with which the subject of the1859 Revival must be approached.

His resignation from his charge in 1858, and subsequentrestoration to it in 1859, was not entirely to his credit. If his manual

95 Aberdeen Free Press, 2nd August 1879.96 Aberdeen Directory, 1878-89.97 The Shanks were buried in Allenvale Cemetery on the right of the main path, a fewyards from the side gate on Great Southern Road. Their headstone is of Peterheadgranite. A little further on, at the junction of the paths, is Principal Lumsden’s grave,marked by a table stone. Lumsden was Principal of the Aberdeen Free Church Collegefrom 1864 to his death in 1875.


labour had affected the quality of his preaching then he was certainlytoo much engaged in it; and his failure to keep adequate Session andDeacons’ Court records cannot be condoned, though it is difficult for aminister if he is unable to devolve this work on a suitable helper. In anycase, these are hardly sufficient grounds for dismissing a minister fromhis charge. Shanks’ final exoneration by the Commission, and thedeparture of his enemies to the United Presbyterian Church, seems toindicate that the faults, whatever they were, were largely on their side.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Shanks’ ministry –something that he shared with James Begg – was the combination ofstrong Protestantism, practical involvement with the poor in their socialproblems, and ecclesiastical conservatism in matters such as psalmodyand musical instruments. The Aberdeen Free Press commented, “Hissympathies lay wholly with the non-progressive anti-innovation party inthe Free Church”.98 He did not think that psalms and unaccompaniedsinging were obstacles in the way of bringing humble fishermen toChrist, and, like Begg, he had more experience in these matters thanmany who were pushing for such innovations. As his letter to the Dukeof Richmond showed, the introduction of musical instruments in theNorth East had more to do with making the Free Church genteel than itdid with evangelism.

Shanks was of modest social origins, apparently, but he wasintelligent and highly educated and had somehow become very wealthy.Nevertheless he chose to devote his life to a people who, when he cameto them, were “two hundred years in arrear of Scottish civilisation”. Hisministry, though controversial, was fruitful, and he is remembered inBuckie to this day. He deserves to be remembered more widely still.

• • • • • •

Bibliography of Robert Shanks’ Published Writings

1. The Anatomy of the Mass by Peter du Moulin; newly translated from French, towhich is prefixed a concise history of the Eucharist (Edinburgh, 1833),12+288pp.

2. The Glenlivat Controversy: being a genuine copy of the letters of the Rev Messrs.Maclean and Shanks, and Mr Gordon, priest of Tombae: with an exposure ofthe ignorance and dishonesty in Mr Gordon’s pamphlet: also the letters of Messrs.

98 Aberdeen Free Press, 18th April 1884.


Carmichael and Maclachlan, priests at Tomintoul and Huntley, with remarksthereon (Aberdeen, 1835), 48pp.

3. Some Causes of Protestant Alarm Stated: and the speeches of the Hon. LordMoncreiff, and the Rev Principal Dewar, delivered in the General Assembly, onPopery, dissected in a letter to his Lordship (Edinburgh, 1836), 47pp.

4. Free Church of Scotland, Buckie (n.p., [1850]), 4pp.

5. The Organ in the Church of Scotland: a Letter to His Grace the Duke ofRichmond (London, 1875), 15pp.

6. The Trecenary Church of the Reformation, 1835, and the Free Church, Buckie(n.p., [1877]), 8pp.


robert shanks of buckie (1798-1884) - biblicalstudies.org.uk

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